Sharp Talking Time

WHAT IS IT:  First ELSI quartz talking time clock (1979)

NEW, FUTURE or RETRO:  Retro

PREVIEW or REVIEW:  Review
 
HOW GOOD IS IT:
 
When the Sharp CT 660E “Talking Time” was introduced in 1979 it represented a technological breakthrough.  It was based on the first use of LSI (large scale integration) construction as opposed to the usual method at that time of mounting discrete components to a printed circuit board.  That made it an amazingly sophisticated product in the consumer marketplace at that time.  While there had been electro-mechanical “talking” devices previously this was the first talking clock to synthesize an actual human voice.  Talking products had a short-lived popularity in the 1980’s (who can forget your car insisting that “your door is a jar”) and then for the most part faded away.